Vanderbilt responded to their heartbreaking loss at Auburn in the best way possible: a series sweep over a conference opponent. Vanderbilt won all 3 games this weekend by scores of 5-3, 3-1, and 8-5 as they moved to 19-5 (4-2 in-conference).

Pitching stole the spotlight for the majority of the weekend, highlighted by Sawyer Hawks’ 0 ER in 4 innings, JD Thompson’s 1 ER in 6 innings, Miller Green’s 0 ER in 2 innings, and Alex Kranzler’s 0 ER in 3.1 innings over 2 appearances. Vanderbilt pitching also struck out forty-nine A&M batters over the 3 game stretch.

Offensively, the ‘Dores’ most consistent performers were Riley Nelson and Braden Holcomb. Nelson went 4-9 with 3 RBIs and Holcomb went 4-11 with 3 RBIs of his own. Mike Mancini and Brodie Johnston both had a massive Saturday afternoon, both recording 3 hits and Johnston knocking in 3 runs.

The story leading into game 1 was how Vandy’s pitching would perform with Connor Fennell getting his first start as a Commodore, taking Ethan McElvain’s spot in the rotation. Things got off to a rocky start, as Texas A&M superstar and likely top-3 MLB draft pick Jace Laviolette blasted a 2 run homer that left the stadium to right field. Fennell settled down after this, striking out the next 4 batters he faced and not allowing another run over 3.1 IP. Vandy’s offense got things going in the 3rd when Braden Holcomb knocked a leadoff single into right field and Vastine walked. Jacob Humphrey then launched his second home run of the season into the left field bleachers to give Vandy a 3-2 lead. Vandy added another run in the 4th with a Nelson leadoff double followed by an RBI single by Mac Rose. A&M would get an unearned run back in the top of the 5th but Sawyer Hawks would come in and pitch an absolutely outstanding next 4 innings. Hawks tore through the talented A&M lineup as he allowed only 1 hit while not walking any. Vandy added some extra insurance thanks to a Braden Holcomb RBI single in the 6th and that was all that Hawks needed. Vandy took game one 5-3. The 5 runs Vandy scored on superstar Ryan Prager was the most of any team this season and the 2nd most of any team in the last 2 seasons combined.

Game 2 was the definition of a pitcher’s duel. Both JD Thompson and Texas A&M star Justin Lamkin threw great games. Thompson got taken deep for a solo home run in the 2nd inning but pitched a borderline perfect game from there on. He tied his career high in strikeouts with 10 as he pitched 6.1 innings with that solo homer being the only run he allowed. Lamkin did his best to match this performance but was not quite able to. In the bottom of the 2nd inning a Nelson double and Holcomb RBI groundout got a run home to make it 1-1. In the 7th consecutive doubles by Nelson and Barczi added a 2nd run before Holcomb drove Barczi home with a single to make it 3-1. Miller Green then came in and threw 2.0 innings of scoreless ball. The game ended on a wacky play where A&M’s Blake Binderup hit a ball into the gap in LF and tried to stretch it into a double but RJ Austin fired a bullet to 2nd to end any threat of Vandy blowing the game.

Game 3 was by far the highest scoring affair of those played this weekend. After a scoreless first and second inning, Brodie Johnston hit his 4th home run of the season onto Memorial Gymnasium, scoring RJ Austin who had just walked and giving Vandy a 2-0 lead. Riley Nelson then blasted a ball around 400 feet to straightaway center field but Laviolette made an amazing grab to rob him of what surely was a home run. The Aggies responded quickly as doubles by Laviolette and Bear Harrison and a single by Gavin Kash in the 4th tied the game up at 2. A&M then took a 3-2 lead in the 5th with a Wyatt Henseler solo home run. Matthew Shorey relieved Cody Bowker after 4.2 innings of work and allowed one hit but got a much needed out to end the 5th. Vanderbilt’s offense looked stagnant for several innings as the ‘Dores either went down in order or hit into double plays multiple times. Kranzler came in for the second time this weekend in the 6th inning and pitched 2 great innings. He only allowed 1 hit while striking out 4 and pumping his fastball up to 96 mph. In the 7th inning Vandy’s offense finally came alive. Consecutive Mancini and Vastine singles ran off reliever Weston Moss and A&M put in their elite closer Luke Jackson. Undeterred, Jacob Humphrey put together a great AB to draw a walk and RJ Austin got his first hit of the weekend to bring home two and give Vandy a 4-3 lead. Brodie Johnston then hit a flare into shallow right field that brought home Humphrey and forced A&M to switch pitchers once again. Riley Nelson then stepped to the plate and annihilated a ball, sending it to the right-center field bleachers and giving Vandy an 8-3 lead. In the 8th Vandy put in Ethan McElvain who gave up a double but struck out 3 in dominant fashion. Scott Brown elected to keep McElvain in for the 9th but after a walk, strikeout, single, dropped fly ball from Humphrey, single that scored 1, and groundout that scored another was pulled for Tommy O’Rourke. O’Rourke walked the first man he saw but got a strikeout to end the game.

There really isn’t a better response to losing a series in heartbreaking fashion than sweeping the preseason number 1 team. That’s by far the biggest takeaway of the series, but there are a few specific things that caught my eye.

Texas A&M might have the best pitching staff in the country, they really are that good. While there were no exceptional offensive outputs against them by Vandy, the bats still produced enough to where nobody was really complaining about them postgame. 25 hits and 16 runs over 3 games against a group that was giving up, on average, less than 3 runs and 6 hits per game is a very solid performance. Even more surprising, this was with one of RJ Austin’s worst series of his career and a 2-11 weekend from Humphrey (although one of those hits was arguably the biggest of the weekend). Almost all of Vandy’s production came from the middle or bottom of the order with the exception of Brodie Johnston. Riley Nelson continued to prove he is arguably the best JUCO transfer position player in the country while Braden Holcomb and Mike Mancini had some breakout performances that will hopefully snap them into form for the rest of the season. If those pieces can keep performing after RJ and Humphrey get themselves right, things will be looking good for the Vandyboys.

Also for your weekly “did the Vandyboys produce much power” watch: Vandy hit 3 home runs against A&M, a solid but not great number. It was, however, the 2nd most home runs the Aggies have given up in a weekend and the same number as A&M, a much more power-centric offense, hit.

Connor Fennell had never started a game against a power conference opponent until he faced A&M on Thursday night. Nobody knew how he was going to perform. All he did was strike out 8 in just 3.2 innings while only allowing 2 runs. He doesn’t have the best stuff but he is a strike thrower who attacks opposing hitters fearlessly. His temperament and competitiveness is exactly what you need in a starting pitcher. This was an extremely encouraging performance that will likely cause him to stick for a while in the rotation. Will he continue to be the Thursday/Friday night guy? I’m not sure, but he will be in the rotation for sure.

Sawyer Hawks is also such a weapon out of the bullpen. Having him gives you the ability to start someone like Fennell since he has such an ability to calm things down and then go for 3-5 innings if things start getting hairy. Not to diminish Fennell’s accomplishments, but Hawks was easily the MVP of that Thursday night game and has been one of the most outstanding relievers in the country through the first 6 weeks of play.

Hawkins field is by no means the rowdiest home field in the SEC, but for some reason it seems to give as big of a home field advantage as the best MLB parks. Vandy is now 15-0 at home which is their best start since the 2007 season. While nobody can truly explain home field advantage, it is a very real thing and this group is proof of that. Hawkins field continues to be a fortress that is extremely hard to break down and I would give this team a chance to win just about every series they play at home.

Looking at this from a bigger-picture standpoint, while it is typical for teams to play better at home than away, for some reason the last few years we have seen a massive difference in the play of the Vandyboys when home vs away. This year they are just 4-4 away or at neutral sites. Last year they only won 3 games away from home in SEC play and went 4-12 away compared to 27-8 at home. Vanderbilt has not gone above .500 away from home since the 2021 season. While it remains to be seen whether that trend will continue, it’s worth factoring this into consideration when looking at projected results for the rest of the season. When looking at Vandy’s home versus away opponents this season we will see why this is significant. Vandy is playing #3 Arkansas, #4 Georgia, #12 Alabama, and Kentucky at home compared to #10 Oklahoma, #13 Florida (the Gators may drop from the rankings, though, as they are 0-5 in SEC play after getting beat 17-2 by Georgia), #1 Tennessee, and #18 Ole Miss. While the rankings have not yet adjusted to how these teams have been looking, those who have been following college baseball know that the home slate is a LOT harder than the away group. Their improved play at home bodes well for the season if this continues to be the case.

Quick aside: can we talk about Vandy’s brutal scheduling luck? It looks like they will only play 2 unranked teams in all of SEC play (A&M, the preseason no. 1, and Kentucky). Somehow they avoided all of Missouri, Miss St., and South Carolina – the 14th–16th best teams in the conference. Brutal.

Something very abstract that I have noticed this year is that this team has some players with real swagger, and when that gets passed on to the whole team everything seems to fall into place. The times I have seen this were in the comeback against UCI, the 3rd inning (second game) against Auburn, and in the 7th inning of Game 3 vs A&M. In each of these instances there was one of these players with that swag who made a play and almost single handedly lifted the rest of the team’s mentality up with them. Against UCI was Nelson’s single (I love watching this guy play, he’s just a ball of positive energy and I love how emotive he is), against Auburn was RJ’s RBI double, and against A&M it was Humphrey’s walk and subsequent demonstrative barrage of insults hurled at the Aggie dugout. Every one of these events immediately ramped up the intensity of the game and got the Vandy dugout into things in a way it was not previously. The shift in mentality and temperament has been palpable every time, and each time there has been some amazing play immediately afterwards. What I want to see happen is for the team to tap into this swagger and belief consistently. Vandy teams from 2014-2020 had it in spades: they all knew they were the best in the country and they acted like it, win or lose. While this team certainly isn’t the most talented in the country, it has the potential to compete with the best if they believe in themselves. They just need to start doing so.

The Vandyboys did a great job of getting back to winning ways this weekend and using some clutch hitting to step on the throat of an uber-talented but underperforming team. It will be crucial to carry this momentum into next week, as the #3 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks come into town. They have a staff that’s statistically just as good as A&M but an offense that has been on fire of late. Tim Corbin’s boys will need to continue to play to the best of their abilities if they want to stay on a roll as we approach midseason in college baseball.